Twists and Turns
by dS-Tiff
Summary: Fraser and RayK go undercover and Ray feels completely out of his depth - quite literally.  Fraser of course does some typically Fraser-like things and Ray ends up surprising himself.
1. Chapter 1

**_This story is set somewhere in the middle of Season 3/4 of due South. Thanks to my good friend vic32 who gave me the idea for the title. I hope you enjoy it. Please leave a review - good or bad. Thank you kindly!  
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**TWISTS AND TURNS  
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CHAPTER 1

"My feet are killin' me Fraser!" Ray Kowalski stopped and stood with his hands on his hips and his head bent forward as he tried to catch his breath. Diefenbaker sat next to Ray and whined in agreement.

"Ray, we've only walked for fifteen blocks," replied Constable Benton Fraser as he spun on his heels to look disapprovingly at his friend.

"Only fifteen?" replied Ray, sarcastically, "funny, I lost count at ten, when the oxygen starvation kicked in."

"I don't understand, this is hardly a marathon?" Fraser frowned. "You're are currently in good health, you are at the peak of fitness, why are you struggling so much with this walk?" He looked down at his wolf who was showing no signs of moving. "You, on the other hand, are not at the peak of fitness." Dief stared at him and made a quiet noise in the back of his throat. "Don't argue with me," Fraser scolded him. Dief folded his front legs under himself, resting his head on his paws in a deliberately defiant gesture. "Now you're just embarrassing yourself, " Fraser shook his head despondently. He looked back at Ray. "We're going to have to continue, we have very little choice this morning with the traffic situation."

"I like drivin' buddy, walkin' sucks," replied Ray, by way of an explanation. He and Fraser surveyed the traffic for a moment. There had been a torrential downpour overnight causing serious flooding in the centre of Chicago resulting in a series of traffic accidents all over the city during the morning rush hour. Add to that the bus that had got stuck under a bridge when it's driver tried to take a detour to avoid the congestion and the city traffic was at a standstill and nobody was getting anywhere. Some people had abandoned their cars and decided to walk to work which had just exacerbated the situation. Everywhere they looked, people were shouting in frustration and leaning on their car horns, as if either of those things was going to make a difference.

"Ray, Lieutenant Welsh has requested our presence at the station this morning to discuss the details of the robbery at the luggage factory," Fraser reminded his partner, who was still acting undercover as his previous partner, Ray Vecchio.

"I know," agreed Ray and then he added with a small grin, "it was an open and shut case."

Fraser frowned. "Ray, that is the second time you have made that reference in as many days. Judging by your facial expression, I assume that it is some sort of witticism, but I'm afraid that I really don't..."

"It's a really old joke buddy," grinned Ray. "Luggage, case, geddit?" A smile of recognition flickered at the corners of Fraser's mouth. "C'mon, don't tell me ya don't have really corny old jokes up in the Yukon Territory."

Fraser's face fell. "Ray, I've told you before, it's the Northwest Territory or the Yukon and of course we do, although Canadian humour is much more..." but before he could continue, he was interrupted by the cries of a man running towards them.

"Help!" yelled the man, "I need help!" He ran right up to Fraser. "Are you the Mountie?" he asked, as he struggled to catch his breath. Ray couldn't help laughing to himself every time someone asked his partner that question, particularly when he was wearing the distinctive red serge as he was today.

"Yes I am," replied Fraser, "whatever's the matter?"

"I got a lady in the back of my cab," began the man, "she's havin' a baby man! We've been stuck for nearly an hour or somethin' and she's yellin' and screamin' and..."

"Take me to her," Fraser interrupted him and the taxi driver turned and raced back to where he'd left his taxi two blocks away, with Fraser, Ray and Diefenbaker running along behind.

When they got there, Fraser was slightly disheartened to see that, despite the fact that there was clearly someone in distress in the back of the taxi, not one passer by had stopped to help. The taxi driver opened the back door of his vehicle and Fraser climbed in. "Hey lady," said the driver over Fraser's shoulder, "I couldn't find no doctor, but I gotcha a Mountie."

The woman wasn't quite sure if she'd heard him correctly, but right now she didn't care. She was laying on her side across the back seat of the taxi cab trying desperately to remember the breathing exercises she been practising and trying equally as desperately to forget that this was happening in the back of a taxi. Fraser removed his hat and placed it on the roof of the taxi, then he tucked himself down between the seats and gently placed two fingers on her wrist to check her pulse. "Constable Benton Fraser, Royal Canadian Mounted Police," he introduced himself.

The woman's face was dripping in sweat and her shoulder length curly hair was plastered to her face. All she could manage to reply was, "Sarah," before she let out another loud moan.

"Hello Sarah," Fraser replied calmly. "How far apart are your contractions?"

"I don't know," replied the woman as she panted through the pain.

Fraser looked back over his shoulder at the taxi driver who was paying close attention to the events unfurling in the back of his cab thinking what a great story this was going to make. Fraser raised his eyebrows questioningly. The taxi driver thought for a moment. "Um, if ya mean how long between the screamin', then I guess, um, about two minutes? Maybe three?"

"Ah," replied Fraser and he turned his attention back to Sarah. "Is this your first baby?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied, letting out a loud moan as soon as the word had left her lips. "I don't want to do this here!" she exclaimed, becoming slightly hysterical.

Fraser placed a reassuring hand on her arm. "I'm afraid you have little choice," he replied, "your baby is determined to make an appearance imminently and I'm afraid with the traffic as it is, there is no possibility of transporting you to the hospital in time." The woman was suddenly terrified as the reality began to sink in. "You have nothing to worry about," smiled Fraser reassuringly, "I've done this before, everything will be alright. If you'll just excuse me for one moment." Fraser climbed back out of the taxi and stood between Ray and the driver.

"What's goin' on?" asked Ray, anxiously.

"Her name is Sarah and she's having a baby," replied Fraser, matter of factly.

"Now?" replied a slightly shocked Ray.

"Yes Ray," replied Fraser.

"In the back of this cab?" Ray was trying to get the situation straight in his head.

"Yes Ray," Fraser nodded calmly.

"Jeez," Ray let out a slow breath and rubbed his face with his hand. "Er, ya have done this before right buddy?"

"Yes Ray, several times," confirmed Fraser. "Although this will be my first experience with an ambient temperature above freezing," he added. "Now if you could ask amongst these kind people in the surrounding vehicles whether they happen to have any blankets or towels, I would be most grateful." Ray nodded and ran over to the nearest occupied car. Fraser turned to the cab driver, "Sir...I'm sorry I don't know your name..."

"Clive," replied the driver.

"Clive," repeated Fraser, as he started unbuckling his Sam Browne. "I assume you carry a first aid kit?"

"Yeah," confirmed Clive, "we all gotta carry one, standard issue, it's in the trunk, I'll get it for ya."

"Thank you kindly," said Fraser, quickly removing his red tunic as Sarah let out another loud scream. He climbed back into the taxi. "Breathe," he encouraged and Sarah tried her best to comply. He folded his tunic and put it on the seat behind her. "I'm afraid you'll need to adjust your position slightly, this should help support your back" he said, rolling up the sleeves of his undershirt, "the conditions in here are a little cramped I admit, but..."

"I was going to...try the birthing pool," wailed Sarah, panting every few words.

"I believe many women have commented on the rewards of that method," smiled Fraser as he tried to make her as comfortable as possible. "We don't have them where I come from though," he explained, "the water would freeze over."

Sarah was about to query that last statement, when another contraction overwhelmed her as Clive handed the first aid kit to Fraser. "Jake's going to miss it all," said Sarah suddenly as the pain subsided slightly.

"Is that your husband?" asked Fraser as he pulled some essential items from the first aid box and a few others that he hoped he wouldn't need.

"Yes," Sarah was panting again, "he left early for work...I called his office but he...he hadn't arrived..."

"Breathe, well done," Fraser encouraged again, squeezing her hand this time for support. "I imagine he's also been caught in this rather frustrating traffic congestion. Where does he work?"

"He's the...the manager of Super Splash...the water park..." gasped Sarah.

"I'll make sure someone contacts him," smiled Fraser and he climbed out of the taxi again just as Ray appeared with two blankets and a towel which he handed to his partner as Fraser passed on the information about Sarah's husband, Jake. Sarah let out a loud scream and Fraser dived back into the vehicle as Ray called Francesca at the Two Seven so that she could attempt to contact the woman's husband.

Ray and Clive stood with their backs to the taxi. "Does he do this sorta thing a lot?" Clive asked as he glanced over his shoulder, desperate to bear witness to the events taking place in the back of his very own cab, but at the same time feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh-huh," agreed Ray, a sudden surge of pride welling up inside him. Sometimes it seemed as though Fraser could do anything. Ray of course knew there were a whole list of things that didn't come quite so easily to his partner, asking a woman out on a date for one thing and his driving abilities somedays were scarily uncoordinated, but it was situations like these that cemented his reputation in the city as the Super Mountie. Ray tried not to think about exactly what was going on in the back of that taxi, in fact, he would rather have been anywhere but there at that moment. Every time Sarah let out a scream or a guttural yell, he felt slightly faint. Every time he heard his partner's words of encouragement, he thought he was going to be sick. He could almost hear Fraser's voice in his head, talking about how it was the most natural thing in the world and how there was no need for Ray to feel or react the way he was, but he just couldn't help it. Ironically, he had similar issues with the end of life too, so what was that all about? Now his thoughts were becoming far too weird for this early in the morning.

Soon, they heard a tiny cry and Ray glanced over at Clive who had a huge smile on his face. Ray managed to crack a smile too, although his was more relief that Fraser had safely delivered the baby, not that he really expected any other outcome of course.

xXx

"You know Ray, childbirth really is the most natural thing in the world..." Fraser was struggling to understand his partner's attitude, but Ray didn't want to hear it. He'd already heard most of it in his head earlier anyway and now here was Fraser saying virtually those exact words.

"So let me get this straight buddy," Ray screwed up his face in disbelief, quickly changing the subject as he drove along in the fading evening light. "The Ice Queen insisted ya take this, er, this huge bunch of flowers to the hospital?"

"Yes Ray," confirmed Fraser from the back seat of the GTO, as the flowers were taking up the entire front passenger seat, "with the compliments and best wishes of the Canadian Consulate."

"No catch?" Ray asked.

"No," Fraser replied, curtly. Ray waited for the real explanation. His buddy was a terrible liar. "Well," Fraser began quietly and Ray grinned to himself, "Inspector Thatcher wished to arrange for an official photograph of myself presenting them to Sarah."

"A photo opportunity," Ray rolled his eyes, now that was more the kind of thing he expected from the Ice Queen.

"Apparently the Inspector felt that the events of this morning would be of some interest to members of the public," Fraser shrugged as his spoke, "I cannot imagine why?"

"Because, Fraser, it's all about publicity," Ray tried to explain, "y'know, ya deliver a baby, save a life, throw some, er, lowlife criminal scumbag in jail, all while you're dressed like that and it all looks good for the Consulate and the RCMP. Hell, it looks good for Canada."

Fraser sighed. "I informed her that I did not wish to participate as I felt it was inappropriate."

"You informed her?" Ray queried incredulously, as he pulled up at a stop sign.

"Yes Ray," replied Fraser.

Ray grinned again. "C'mon buddy, tell me what she made ya do."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're referring to Ray," Fraser closed his eyes as soon as he'd said that and then added, quietly, "sentry duty."

"What?" exclaimed Ray, "I thought ya didn't do so much of that these days?"

"It's true that since we now only have three permanent members of staff at the Consulate, the number of hours of sentry duty has been significantly reduced," Fraser began, "however, we like to maintain a token visual presence. Recently, Constable Turnbull has been covering most of the shifts." Ray shook his head and drove the GTO into the hospital car park.

xXx

Fraser knocked quietly on the door of Sarah's hospital room. "Come in," a man's voice replied and Fraser entered the room. "Oh, you must be the Mountie! I don't know how to begin to thank you." The man strode across the room towards Fraser with an huge smile on his face and a hand extended.

Fraser quickly swapped the giant bunch of flowers from one hand to the other and accepted the man's warm handshake. "Constable Benton Fraser," he introduced himself, "you must be Jake. Hello again Sarah." He crossed to the bed where Sarah was sitting up holding her tiny newborn baby and she smiled at him as he showed her the flowers. "These are for you, with the compliments of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police," he said, a little awkwardly. "Shall I put them in water for you?"

"Thank you," replied Sarah, "they're beautiful." Fraser filled a vase with water and began to arrange the flowers perfectly. "This is Bethany Anne Dantzig," added Sarah.

Fraser smiled. "I believe we met earlier," he said and Sarah laughed.

"We wanted to wait until we saw her before we decided on her name," explained Sarah. She paused for breath and her face became suddenly serious as she continued. "If you hadn't been there...I...I..." but Fraser waved his hand to stop her.

"Please," he said, embarrassed now, "it was nothing. I'm pleased to see that you're both alright. I should probably be going now." He turned quickly, shook Jake by the hand again and with a final quick smile over his shoulder at Sarah and baby Bethany, he left the room.

Fraser had only taken a few steps when he heard Jake's voice call after him. He stopped and turned as Jake caught up with him. "Constable, I'm sorry, do you have a minute?"

"Of course," replied Fraser, "how can I be of assistance."

Jake hesitated for a minute. "Um, well, I need some advice."

"Ah," replied Fraser, confused now. He hoped that Jake wasn't going to ask him for advice about babies as he knew his expertise virtually stopped at the delivery. He waited for Jake to continue, but the other man was strangely silent. Fraser frowned slightly.

"I'm the manager of Super Splash, you know, the water park," began Jake, finally. Fraser nodded. "Well, the thing is, we've been having some trouble recently."

"Trouble?" queried Fraser. "If you're in need of Police assistance then I'm afraid I have no jurisdiction here, however my good friend Detective Vecchio works for the Chicago PD. He's waiting outside for me, if you'd like to speak to him."

Jake thought for a moment. "I did speak to the Police, but they weren't really interested. You see, I can't really prove anything."

Fraser was concerned now. "What exactly has been happening?" he asked.

Jake shook his head. "Nothing," he said, "I shouldn't have even mentioned it. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

"If you're absolutely sure," said Fraser, who wasn't at all convinced that it was nothing. Jake nodded and headed back to his wife and child.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

The next morning, Fraser was standing to attention outside the Consulate building with Diefenbaker at his heels. As usual, he'd maintained his position despite the efforts of a small child who'd spent several minutes poking and prodding him as his mother talked to her friend. He'd also managed to remain stoic as two teenage girls stood right in front of him and engaged in some rather risqué conversation detailing certain thoughts that his presence was causing them. He still had eleven minutes and thirty five seconds left until the end of his shift when he heard the voice of his superior officer, Inspector Meg Thatcher as she emerged from the Consulate. "Fraser, Detective Vecchio is on the telephone for you," she called out to him. Fraser didn't move or respond in any way. "Fraser!" Meg raised her voice slightly. "Telephone call for you." Still nothing from Fraser. Meg tutted and walked round to stand directly in front of him. He continued to stare directly ahead. "Fraser!" Meg was getting really annoyed now. She glanced at her watch and sighed. "OK, I realise you still have ten minutes left, but Vecchio said it was urgent, so under the circumstances, I'll allow you to finish early."

Fraser blinked deeply and looked her in the eye at last. "Thank you kindly Sir," he said and immediately turned and ran back into the Consulate with Dief running ahead. He found Constable Turnbull sat at the front desk, holding the telephone receiver in his outstretched hand. "Thank you Turnbull" he said, taking the telephone from his colleague and glancing over his shoulder as Inspector Thatcher walked back into her office. "Good morning Ray," he began, but before Fraser could say anything else, Ray spoke.

"Ya remember the, er, the baby from yesterday," Ray said, urgently.

"Well of course Ray," replied Fraser, rather puzzled, "I'm not likely to forget."

"Yeah, yeah I know," Ray interrupted him, "the dad was Jacob Dantzig?"

"Yes Ray," Fraser confirmed, suddenly concerned, "known to his family as Jake. Why do you ask?"

"Coz, er, there's an arrest warrant out on him," sighed Ray, "thought ya might wanna know."

"What?" Fraser exclaimed. He couldn't quite believe his ears. "On what charge?"

"Homicide," replied Ray and he heard his partner take a sharp breath. "There was someone floatin' in one of the pools at that water park where he works this mornin'. Welsh sent Huey and Dewy to pick him up from his apartment, until the, er, the cops from the suburban PD can come and take him off our hands."

"Thank you kindly Ray, I'll be right there," he added and handed the telephone back to Turnbull. "Um, I'm afraid I have to go out," Fraser said to his perplexed colleague, "Please inform the Inspector that I'll be at the Twenty Seventh Precinct if she needs to contact me." With that, he and Diefenbaker ran all the way from the Consulate to the station.

xXx

Ray led his partner into the room adjacent to Interview Room 2 so that they could watch through the two way mirror. Ray shook his head at the sight of Huey and Dewey clearly attempting the tried and tested 'good cop, bad cop' routine on their extremely nervous prisoner. "Welsh said to bring him in and wait for the suburban guys to get here. Not our investigation. I dunno who those two clowns think they are?"

"Ray, Detectives Huey and Dewy are both competent officers of the law, as they've proved on numerous occasions," Fraser pointed out. He stared through the glass, still not quite able to believe that the proud new father he met last night was capable of murder.

"Well buddy, I never even met the guy, but he sure as hell don't look like a murderer to me," Ray shook his head.

"Ray, appearances can be deceiving," Fraser pointed out.

"C'mon buddy," replied Ray, heading towards the door, "let's get in there. This don't feel right at all." Fraser couldn't help but agree with his partner's instincts yet again and followed him out of the room. Ray knocked on the door of the interview room and walked straight in. "Welsh is on the warpath," he announced, "you guy's had better disappear until he's cooled off."

Dewey and Huey looked at each other. They knew they weren't meant to be interviewing the suspect and they really didn't want to deal with Lieutenant Welsh if he was mad with them. "C'mon Jack," said Dewey, "let's get outta here."

Jack Huey nodded. "Thanks man," he said to Ray, as he walked past him and followed his partner out of the room. As soon as they'd left, Fraser walked in and closed the door behind him, choosing to ignore his partner's blatant lying at this juncture.

"Constable Fraser!" exclaimed a surprised Jake Dantzig. "You have to help me. I don't understand what's going on? They said I killed Linda Maguire."

"Who was Linda Maguire?" asked Fraser, sitting down on the chair vacated by Jack Huey.

"She was the company accountant at Super Splash," explained Jake. "I fired her over two weeks ago. She was either defrauding us, or she was incredibly incompetent. I couldn't quite work out which."

"Is this what you were trying to tell me about last night?" Fraser asked.

Jake nodded. "It's been going on for months. Money was disappearing, but every time I confronted her about it she always had an excuse. A bill she'd forgotten to tell me about, or something like that. I knew she was lying to me. I even called the owner of the water park, Colin Dawson, but I couldn't get past his secretary. She made it quite clear he wasn't interested in the petty day to day runnings of his businesses, as she put it. I called the police in the end, but they weren't interested either. Can't really blame them, I had no proof at all. They really had no reason to investigate her."

"So in the end ya let her go," Ray clarified.

"Yes," replied Jake, "but then odd things started happening. Expensive equipment started going missing, there was a small fire in one of the changing rooms, other weird stuff too. So I called the police again and this time someone went round to her place and spoke to her, but she had an alibi for the whole time since I fired her, she went to Vegas with two of her friends. The next thing I know she's filed harassment charges against me? Police threw them out straight away of course, it was ridiculous."

"Then this morning she's found dead at the water park," Fraser scratched at his eyebrow with his left thumb as he spoke, "and as you have a previous grievance against this woman, you are the prime suspect."

"I guess so," shrugged Jake, "but I didn't kill her. Why would I even do that? I went straight home from the hospital last night. You have to tell them Constable, I've got a new baby, I'm not a violent man."

Fraser glanced at Ray. "I'll do what I can," he promised. "If you are innocent then the investigation will prove that." Ray sighed at Fraser's overwhelming belief in the justice system and wished he could be so sure. Just then the door to the interview room burst open.

"Vecchio!" thundered the voice of Lieutenant Welsh as he stormed in followed by a uniformed police officer. "My office now." He stopped and looked at Fraser. "You too Constable."

In Lieutenant Welsh's office Fraser and Ray listened to Detectives Chen and Turner from the other police station complaining to Welsh. "All we asked was that someone arrest him and hold him here until we arrived," Detective Chen had long dark hair tied back in a ponytail and she stood with her arms folded as she spoke.

"Ah, well now," began Welsh, "if Constable Fraser has reason to believe the man is innocent, then I'm afraid I've learnt over the years that it's best to listen to him."

"He is our suspect, this is out of your jurisdiction," Detective Turner said, waving his hands in the air in disgust.

"Almost everything falls outside of Fraser's jurisdiction," Welsh explained, "never normally stops him though."

Chen looked Fraser up and down admiringly, causing him some embarrassment. He was standing with his arms behind his back, but the attentions of the pretty female detective caused him to run one finger around his collar. "What exactly has a Mountie got to do with any of this?" asked the detective.

"Well, I first came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of my father..." began Fraser, but Ray was really bored of hearing his partner recite this explanation, so he jumped in and finished it for him.

"..and then he stayed." Ray rushed out. "Also he delivered the guy's baby yesterday."

"Baby?" exclaimed Welsh, Chen and Turner in unison.

"Yeah," continued Ray, "in a taxi."

"A taxi?" the three of them exclaimed again.

"Yes," confirmed Fraser, "Mrs Dantzig was unfortunately caught in the traffic situation yesterday morning, however I don't believe that has anything to with this homicide investigation."

"Look, Dantzig spent the evening with his wife and, er, new baby at the hospital and then went home," said Ray, who was perched on the corner of Welsh's desk.

"He has a past history with the victim," Detective Turner pointed out.

"He never made any violent threats towards her," said Ray, starting to get angry, "what kinda detective work do you guys do over there?"

"That's enough Vecchio," Welsh warned in a low, but firm voice, but before Ray could snap back a retort, the door opened and Francesca Vecchio walked in.

Welsh shook his head. "Miss Vecchio, please remember to knock..."

"I thought you might want to see this Harding," Francesca interrupted him, handing him a fax that had just arrived. Welsh scanned down the printout, ignoring her usual over familiarity. Francesca turned to go, smiled at Fraser and then noticed Detective Chen who was still ogling the Mountie. Francesca decided to make it perfectly clear to the female detective that she had seen him first, so she grabbed Fraser's arm and leaned in so that she was inches from his face. Fraser froze to the spot, he had absolutely no idea what she was going to do and he couldn't even bring himself to look her in the eye. "Hi Frase," she half whispered, with a quick glance over her shoulder. "Will I see you later?" she added.

"Um, yes," replied Fraser, turning his head slightly with a puzzled frown, as of course he didn't fully understand her inference. "I would imagine so, anyway." Francesca released her grip on him and walked out of the room with a sneering smile at Chen on her way past.

"Who was that?" asked the female detective with a disapproving sneer.

"Hey, she's my sister," snapped Ray, deciding that he really didn't like this woman, "what's, er, what's in the fax?" he asked Welsh.

"Our victim, Ms Maguire, is on her way here to spend a few hours with Mort," explained Welsh, trying to suppress a grin.

"Who's Mort?" asked a confused Detective Turner.

"Our, er, he's our, y'know..." began Ray.

"Mortician," prompted Fraser.

"Yeah, mortician," agreed Ray, adding under his breath, "thanks buddy."

"You're welcome," Fraser quickly replied, equally as quietly.

"We have our own mortician," Turner said, looking at Chen, who was just as perplexed.

"It seems that your Mr Grave has had an unfortunate accident with a cinnamon roll at breakfast this morning," explained Welsh, "he is an old friend of Mort's so he insisted that the body be transported here to the Twenty Seventh for the autopsy."

"May I suggest in that case that Mr Dantzig remain in custody here until the results of said autopsy are known?" suggested Fraser.

"Agreed," said Welsh.

"No!" exclaimed Chen.

"Wait a minute," said Ray, getting to his feet and addressing Turner, "hold on, go back a second. Your mortician is called Grave?"

"Well yours is called Mort," replied Turner, flatly.

Ray thought for a moment. "Oh yeah," he shrugged.

"You're not keeping our suspect," Chen insisted.

"Your Lieutenant, Frank Patrizi," Welsh began with a glint in his eye, "he owes me a favour. Ever since that incident at the Thanksgiving Day Parade in eighty-seven."

Detectives Chen and Turner knew they were beaten for now. Lieutenant Patrizi was a formidable man, but if Welsh had some hold over him then there was nothing they could do about it. "This isn't over," Chen snarled as she and her partner walked out of the office.

Fraser looked at Welsh and nodded in appreciation. Welsh got to his feet. "You'd better be right about this Constable," he said.

Fraser nodded again. "Understood."

"Now, get down to the morgue," Welsh instructed. Ray had been really hoping he wouldn't say that.

xXx

A short while later, in the morgue, Ray had taken up his usual position facing the door. He could hear Mort and Fraser humming a tune as they examined the body of Linda Maguire, probably from some opera or other that Ray had never heard of. Every now and then Fraser would stop humming and say "Ah," as he spotted something interesting.

"Are you sure you won't have a glass of champagne Detective?" Mort asked.

"Er, no," replied Ray shortly. The thought of drinking anything in this place with the stench of death and formaldehyde made Ray feel even more nauseous than he already was.

Fraser stopped for a moment and raised his eyebrows questioningly at Mort. "It's non alcoholic Fraser," smiled Mort.

Fraser laughed. "I thought so," he replied. "So, your initial thoughts?"

"Well," began Mort, "cause of death was most definitely cerebral hypoxia brought about by respiratory impairment following submersion." Fraser nodded in agreement.

"Huh?" asked Ray, screwing his face up.

"She drowned Ray," explained Fraser.

"No way," Ray exclaimed sarcastically as he threw his hands in the air in frustration. "She was found floatin' in a swimmin' pool Fraser. Big question is who pushed her in?"

"Hmmm," replied Fraser, "that certainly is a big question Ray, however, I'm inclined to rephrase the question, wouldn't you agree Mort?"

"Most definitely," agreed Mort. Ray almost forgot where he was for a moment and spun round to face his partner, but as he caught site of the body on the examination table he let out a loud groan and turned back half way so that he could still see Fraser, but couldn't quite see anything else. "Are you alright Detective?" enquired Mort.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good, I'm greatness," replied Ray unconvincingly, "can one of ya please tell me what the hell you're talkin' about? What, er, what exactly is wrong with the way I asked the question?"

"The real question Ray, is was she pushed, or did she fall?" Fraser explained. "There is a large contusion on the victim's forehead," he continued, "and further evidence would suggest that she was unconscious before she hit the water."

"So she coulda hit her head, knocked herself out and fallen in by accident?" said a surprised Ray.

"Not necessarily Ray," replied Fraser, walking around to the other side of the table, "however...oh, wait a moment. Mort have you seen this?"

Mort quickly put his champagne glass down on the side and diverted his attention to where Fraser was examining the victim's left ankle. "Broken?" he enquired.

"In two places I would suggest," replied Fraser and Ray winced, "but the lack of swelling or bruising would indicate that this injury occurred only a few minutes before death."

Mort twisted the ankle carefully in several directions, an action that resulted in a slightly unpleasant crunching noise that made Ray feel faint. He turned back so that he was completely facing the door again. "I agree Fraser," agreed Mort.

"Time of death?" asked Ray hoping that focussing his mind on facts and figures would help clear his head.

"My best guess would be between midnight at two a.m." replied Mort.

"So, our victim was, for reasons as yet unknown, at the water park several hours after closing time," began Fraser, removing his examination gloves, "where she, for reasons as yet unknown, broke her ankle and fell, hitting her head and falling into the pool in an unconscious state where she succumbed to drowning."

"She coulda slipped if she was, y'know, walkin' around the place in the dark?" suggested Ray.

"Agreed," nodded Fraser. "Of course this is all theoretical at this juncture," he added, "but in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I would suggest that there is very little reason to keep Jake Dantzig here any longer."

"Greatness," grinned Ray and ran out of the door.

xXx

"As much as it pains me to say this, I agree with Constable Fraser," Assistant States Attourney Stella Kowalski stood with her arms folded across her chest in Lieutenant Welsh's office. "There is nothing here to build a case against this man. The CCTV from his apartment building shows him arriving home at around nine twenty last night and there is no sign of him leaving again."

Welsh scanned down Mort's report and nodded. "Cut him loose," he said to Ray. "I'll give our friends Chen and Turner the good news." He chuckled to himself, he could just imagine the look on Frank Patrizi's face and it filled him with a slightly misplaced sense of satisfaction.

"I need to go, I'm due in court in an hour," said Stella and headed towards the door.

"See ya Stell," Ray called after her.

"Not too soon though, I hope," replied Stella, sharply. Ray shrugged off her comment but Fraser could see that it hurt more than Ray was letting on. He couldn't understand why Ray continued to put himself through all that. He should have learnt by now that Stella's snide remarks were just her way of dealing with the pain that she felt every time she was forced to see her ex-husband during the course of her working day and the best course of action all round would be to stick to discussing cases, but Ray seemed to hold onto the hope that one day she would change. Fraser had a feeling that day was not going to come any time soon.

"Sir, if I may make a suggestion," Fraser began and Ray's mind snapped back to the case, "it would appear that criminal activity of some kind is taking place at Super Splash," Fraser continued, "a death has occurred, albeit we assume at this juncture that said demise was as a result of an accident, but that doesn't explain what the victim was doing at the location, or indeed how she was able to obtain access."

"True," agreed Welsh, "go on, what're you thinking Constable?"

"Well, Sir," said Fraser, rubbing his eyebrow with his thumb, "when we spoke earlier to Mr Dantzig, he advised that certain minor incidents had occurred during the last two weeks when Miss Maguire was in Las Vegas, thus disproving his initial assumption that she was the culprit."

"So there's still a perp there somewhere," agreed Ray, "who, er, I guess could have somethin' to do with why Mort has a new house guest."

"Indeed Ray," Fraser nodded, "it is rather too much of a coincidence. As much as I am convinced that her death was an accident, the circumstances leading up to the incident remain unclear."

"It has to be an inside job," stated Ray, catching on to his partner's train of thought. "So what've ya got in mind Fraser?"

"I was going to suggest Sir," Fraser began, addressing Lieutenant Welsh, "that Detective Vecchio and myself undertake a covert operation at Super Splash."

"You want to go undercover?" replied a slightly stunned Welsh.

"Yes Sir," Fraser nodded.

"But ya hate undercover," said Ray, equally as surprised.

"I don't hate it Ray," Fraser tried to explain, "but I admit I do find it challenging. However, I relish the challenge, particularly if it presents us with the opportunity to apprehend a criminal."

Welsh thought about Fraser's proposition for a moment. He recalled the Mountie's previous attempts at undercover work and realised that his most successful mission had been the time he'd disguised himself as a woman. Welsh wasn't exactly sure what that meant and he decided it was best not to think too deeply about it. "Alright," he said finally, "I'll clear it with Lieutenant Patrizi. You go and release Dantzig and set it up with him."

"Thank you kindly," nodded Fraser, appreciatively.

"You'll both be representing this precinct gentlemen," Welsh warned them, "do not screw this up, is that clear?"


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

"I really appreciate everything you're doing for me," Jake Dantzig unlocked the door to his office at Super Splash, the water park. "So if the forensics people have finished, can we reopen tomorrow?"

"Yeah," replied Ray. "We're not, er, treatin' this as a crime scene now."

Jake breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good news," he said, "we can't afford to lose another day of business. This place is barely keeping it's head above water, if you'll pardon the pun. The owners seem to think I can run a water park on a shoestring budget. I'm doing my best, but it's so hard. I can't fail though, I need this job, even more so now." He looked at his watch. "I'm hoping to be able to bring Sarah and Bethany home tonight," he said. "Please don't tell her about any of this," he pleaded.

"Jake, she's going to find out eventually that you were arrested on suspicion of murder," Fraser pointed out.

"I know, I know, but not today," Jake said with a sigh, "today I just want to bring my wife and our baby home so that we can start our new life together as a family. Is that too much to ask?"

Fraser smiled. "Of course not," he replied, "but I suggest that you explain it to her as soon as you feel it's appropriate. I imagine she'd be disappointed if she thought you were deliberately keeping her out of the hoop."

"The loop Fraser," Ray corrected him.

Jake smiled at the Mountie's slip up. "OK, if you're going to be my two new lifeguards, then you'll need these," Jake said, going to a large cupboard behind his desk and opening the door. He picked up two small sealed plastic packets and handed one each to Fraser and Ray.

The two friends took the offerings and, slightly puzzled, opened the packets, lifting out the contents and each holding them up in the air between their thumbs and forefingers. "Swim trunks!" exclaimed Ray, as he studied the rather flimsy looking shorts.

"Standard uniform," explained Jake.

Ray looked at Fraser with his broad shoulders and his well defined muscles and then he looked down at his own rather scrawny body. "Greatness," he muttered under his breath. Now he was going to be parading around in public in a state of semi-undress standing next to Fraser and he might as well just dispense with the trunks and be naked because nobody was going to notice he even existed anyway, he thought to himself. Fraser glanced across at his partner and Ray suddenly realised that of course Fraser wasn't exactly pleased with the prospect of wearing his new uniform either.

"Now I suggest you familiarise yourselves with the park," said Jake. "Here are my keys so you can access every area. There are the two main flumes of course and then the smaller flumes are located on the other side of the park. Then there's the leisure pool and the kid's pool which is by the main changing room." Jake looked at his watch again. "I should get to the hospital," he said, "please lock up when you leave."

"Of course," replied Fraser, "I assume there was no sign of a break in last night?"

"No," sighed Jake, shaking his head, "the officer I spoke to said the place was locked up when the cleaners arrived this morning and discovered the body?"

"OK, er, I guess we'll see ya tomorrow then," said Ray, forcing out a grin as Jake ran out of his office and headed out to his car.

"Well Ray," Fraser smiled, "I suggest we change."

"Change?" asked Ray, incredulously, "why?"

"We'll need to make ourselves familiar with the flumes Ray if we're going to be acting as lifeguards," Fraser explained.

"Buddy, we're not real lifeguards," Ray reminded him, "hell, I can't even swim."

"As far as the public and the other members of staff are concerned Ray, we will be lifeguards," Fraser pointed out, "therefore we may be called upon to offer assistance. I would feel more comfortable if I had at least travelled along each of the chutes so that I am aware of the particular nuances of each one."

Ray laughed out loud. "You're gonna ride down the big water slides?" he asked.

"Yes Ray," replied Fraser, matter of factly.

"Well count me out," Ray replied.

"Of course Ray," agreed Fraser, "the large flumes are only suitable for strong swimmers due to the swirling undercurrents of the plunge pool you emerge into. However, I thought if we had half an hour to spare, perhaps now would be a good time for another swimming lesson?"

"Fraser, ya already taught me to swim," sighed Ray, "the old bloom, close, kick 'em in the head routine. I got it."

"And have you been practising at all since the incident on the Henry Allen?" Fraser enquired.

"Er, no," replied Ray, he couldn't lie to his buddy.

Fraser sighed. "Follow me," he said, "and bring your trunks."

xXx

"Well that was fun!" Fraser pulled himself out of the whirling plunge pool and sat on the side. He looked back up at the giant flume and grinned an enormous grin. "Quite the most exhilarating experience Ray," Fraser continued, wiping his wet face with his hand.

"Yeah, whatever ya say buddy," replied a slightly stunned Ray. He held out his hand and pulled Fraser to his feet, then he threw a towel around his dripping partner's shoulders. Fraser grabbed a corner of the towel and ran it over his hair.

"The velocity one can achieve in that one is quite staggering," Fraser's voice went unusually high as he continued to enthuse about the ride while he and Ray walked through the park towards the children's pools, "much faster than the first one."

Ray laughed. "Freak," he grinned and Fraser shrugged.

"I suggest that tomorrow you take up a position in this area," said Fraser, his voice back to it's usual tone. "That way, if you are required to provide assistance, you won't be out of your depth."

"Thanks buddy, I'll patrol two feet of water and a slide shaped like a banana," Ray shook his head despondently.

"Ray, a child could easily drown in two feet of water," Fraser pointed out, "you may still be the difference between life and death." Ray nodded, seriously. "Ah, the first aid room," said Fraser striding ahead. "Jake mentioned that some expensive items were stolen from here last week." He and Ray began looking around the room. They could see where something had been ripped off the wall and that a lock on one of the cupboards had been broken off. Jake had told them that they had no money for any repairs or replacements. Fraser noticed a CPR mannequin in the corner and he reached over and lifted it out. "Ray, do you want to spend a few moments brushing up on your technique?"

"My technique?" replied Ray questioningly, looking at the mannequin.

"Yes Ray, I assume your first aid qualification is up to date, but I believe it's important that we are prepared in case of any emergency," explained Fraser.

"Relax buddy," sighed Ray, "I did a refresher course in January and anyway nothin' is gonna happen, except with any luck we're gonna make a bust, right?"

Fraser sighed too. Maybe he was being over cautious, but he felt an overwhelming sense of obligation to the public in his role as a lifeguard, even that name – lifeguard – carried with it such an overpowering sense of responsibility to protect life, almost more than being a Mountie. He had to force himself to remember that he and Ray were there primarily to solve the case. "Of course," he agreed. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Ah," he said, a smile returning to his face, "I think we probably have half an hour for a quick swimming lesson. Come along Ray, would you like to start with a floatation device?" Ray glared at him, but Fraser continued, "This is an excellent opportunity Ray, the pool is closed to the public so you have no fear of embarrassment."

"I'm not embarrassed," replied Ray, indignantly, as he followed his partner out to the pool.

Fraser looked at him, his face not giving anything away. "No, of course you're not Ray."

xXx

The next morning, Fraser and Ray met Jake outside the water park. "Good morning!" Fraser, who was dressed casually in jeans, a blue t-shirt and his favourite leather jacket, greeted the man warmly. "How are your family?"

Jake smiled. "I still can't get used to hearing that," he said. "They're both fine, thank you. I'm a bit tired though, I think waking up in the night is going to take a little getting use to." Ray and Fraser laughed.

As Jake opened the door to his office, he immediately noticed something was wrong. "Oh no!" he exclaimed and ran over to his desk with Fraser and Ray right behind him. "The accounts," he said in despair. On his desk was a huge pile of shredded paper and beside it sat an empty presentation folder. "I've been working on those for days," he sighed, "I have to get them to head office by the end of the week, I don't believe this."

"I guess ya got back ups?" asked Ray.

Jake nodded, "Yes, I've got the figures on the computer, but I'd assembled the presentation already. It's going to take me hours to print it all out and do it again."

Fraser was examining the lock on the door. "There's no sign of forced entry," he announced. "I locked this door myself before we left last night, meaning whoever did this has a key."

"Guess that's why we're here buddy," nodded Ray. Just then, a young man and an even younger woman walked in.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed the woman, "what a mess."

"It's nothing for you to worry about," said Jake quickly, brushing all the shredded paper into the bin. "Chelsea, Darren, we have two new members of staff, this is, um..." but he trailed off as he was suddenly aware that, as they were undercover, Ray and Fraser were probably not going to be using their real names.

"Ben Pinsent," Fraser smiled, shaking both of them by the hand.

"Er, Ray McQueen," grinned Ray.

Chelsea smiled rather seductively at both of them, before deliberately unzipping her jacket to reveal her blue swimsuit underneath. Fraser quickly averted his eyes, but Ray took the opportunity for an unashamed look, just in case he spotted anything significant to the investigation. "Hi," she said, "I guess we'll be working together."

"Indeed," muttered Fraser, before clearing his throat in embarrassment.

"If you've any questions today, just give me shout," said Darren.

"Thank you kindly," replied Fraser and Darren and Chelsea left the room.

"Pinsent?" said Ray, enquiringly.

"It was my mother's maiden name," explained Fraser and Ray nodded understandingly. "And McQueen?" Fraser asked.

"Steve McQueen," grinned Ray.

"Is he a relative on your mother's side?" asked Fraser and Ray shook his head in disbelief.

xXx

Later that morning, the water park was quite busy. The large flumes were very popular and Fraser and Darren were patrolling them together, walking from the steps, back to the plunge pool and then around again. Two other lifeguards were keeping an eye on the swimmers using the smaller flumes and Chelsea was sat on a high chair watching the main swimming pool.

Ray, of course, was in charge of the children's pool and had already had to deal with a young boy who had decided to regurgitate his breakfast by the entrance to the changing rooms and a slightly older boy who had found it amusing to hit him repeatedly with his floatation device. Ray made a mental note to improve his swimming skills so that if they ever found themselves in this situation again, which was highly unlikely he admitted to himself, then he could take charge of the adults and Fraser could be the one clearing up puke. He looked over at Fraser and Fraser waved his hand in the air and smiled. Ray waved back. It wasn't simply a friendly gesture, it was a sign that neither of them had anything unusual to report.

Ray watched his partner for a minute. He did seem rather uncomfortable walking about in his swim shorts, Ray decided and of course he'd had no lack of female attention that morning. In fact, the first aid room was almost out of band aids now, but surely girls weren't cutting themselves on purpose just so that Fraser could treat their injuries, he thought. There was something seriously wrong with that, really screwy, thought Ray with a shudder. Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by a child's scream. He spun round and found a little girl aged about four years old sitting by the side of the pool by the banana slide, crying loudly. Her mother was trying to calm her, but then she too cried out. "Oh god!"

Ray raced over to them, but even before he got their he could see blood trickling down the little girl's leg. "What happened?" he asked, crouching down on one knee.

"She did it on the slide," her mother replied, her voice trembling.

Ray was horrified to see a nasty looking deep gash on the child's thigh. He quickly grabbed two towels from the shelf and wrapped one tightly around her leg and draped the other around her shoulders. "It's OK," he tried to reassure them. "Chelsea!" he shouted across to the young lifeguard, who jumped off her chair and raced across to them. "This kid cut herself on the, er, on the banana slide," Ray explained, "I guess there's a sharp edge or somethin', maybe it's cracked? We should close the slide."

"OK," agreed Chelsea, "I'll get a barrier around it," and she went off to get the safety barrier from the storeroom.

Ray stood up and waved at Fraser again, this time Fraser could see it was a call for help. He in turn indicated to Darren to cover his watch and ran over to his partner. "What happened Ray?" he asked.

"Not sure buddy," Ray half whispered. "Poor kid's cut her leg on the stupid banana slide, it's real nasty. I think ya should take a look at it, might even need stitches. I'm gonna check out the slide, could be nothin', but..."

Ray didn't even need to finish his sentence, Fraser knew exactly what he was thinking. "Agreed," he said and then turned his attentions to the injured child, getting down on one knee and carefully unwrapping the towel from her leg. "It's alright," he said gently, but he couldn't help taking a sharp breath at the severity of the cut. He quickly wrapped it with the towel again and spoke to the girl's mother. "It's quite a deep injury, but I believe it's just a flesh wound," he explained, "I'll take a closer look at it in the first aid room. She'll be fine, don't worry." Fraser picked up the child, who had stopped crying now and was shaking slightly and carried her to the first aid room.

Chelsea returned with a safety barrier, but stopped for a moment to admire the sight of Fraser walking off with the child in his muscular arms. She let out a slow breath as she watched, but as he disappeared from sight into the first aid room her mind snapped back to the safety barrier she was holding and she quickly erected it around the slide to stop anyone else using it. Ray was standing knee deep in the small pool, carefully examining the slide. He couldn't see any obvious damage to it that may have left a dangerous sharp edge. "Chelsea," he asked the other lifeguard who was watching from the side, "can we pump out some of this water?" A section of the slide was below the water level and Ray couldn't see it clearly and he needed to see what had caused that poor little girl such a horrific injury.

"Yeah sure," said Chelsea and went back to the storeroom and quickly returned with the pump. Ray helped her set it up and within minutes, the water level in the small pool was almost a foot lower.

Meanwhile in the first aid room, Fraser was treating the little girl's leg. Her name was Paige and Fraser had been telling her all about Diefenbaker in an attempt to distract her from the pain. "He eats far too many doughnuts," smiled Fraser, applying the last of four butterfly strips to the cut. "You've been a very brave girl," he smiled again and then turned to speak to Paige's mother. "She's been very fortunate, it doesn't need stitches," he said.

"Oh thank heavens," replied the mother. "We've been here so many times before and nothing like this has ever happened before."

"I'm so terribly sorry," replied Fraser as he covered the wound with a dressing. "I promise you that we'll conduct a full investigation." Just then Ray appeared at the doorway. "If you'll excuse me for a moment," said Fraser and he stepped outside with his partner. "Ray," he began in a low voice, peeling off his sterile gloves, "I examined the wound, it was a very clean cut, it appeared to have been caused by..."

"Don't tell me," Ray interrupted him and Fraser looked puzzled, "you'll wanna see this. C'mon, you're, um, you're not gonna like it." Ray led Fraser back over to the banana slide and he stepped back into the water, closely followed by his partner. "Look," said Ray, pointing to the joint where the final sections of the slide were joined together, "careful!" he warned as Fraser got closer.

Fraser stood bolt upright and looked at Ray in shock. "Good god Ray, a razor blade?"

"I know, what kinda sick bastard sticks a razor blade in a little kid's slide?" said Ray in disgust, running his fingers through his flat hair.

Fraser was bending over again, looking at the blade which had been deliberately wedged into the joint with just enough protruding to cause poor little Paige such a horrible injury. Fraser shook his head. "We should close the park," he said, his face clearly displaying his emotions.

"But we need to catch this creep," Ray reminded him. "If we shut down now, then we shut down the undercover too. We just have to, y'know, be extra careful. This is kinda much more serious now than shredded accounts. Somethin' queer's goin' on Fraser."

Fraser stood again and looked at his partner, licking his lower lip with his tongue as he thought about the situation. Ray was right, but the possibility of another child getting hurt, or anyone getting hurt for that matter, was difficult to ignore.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Later that day, Ray, Fraser and Jake were talking in Jake's office. "I feel so bad about that poor little girl," sighed Jake, "I hated lying to her mother like that."

"Ya did the right thing," Ray assured him, "we can't risk it gettin' out that the kid's slide was sabo, um, er..."

"Sabotaged Ray," Fraser helped him out, "and I agree. We need to continue to operate the water park under as normal conditions as possible. Detectives Chen and Turner have completed their inspection of the crime scene now. Their uniformed colleagues have also cleared the rest of the park, fortunately, it appears to have been an isolated incident."

"For now," added Ray, "we gotta stay vigilante. We just don't know, er, what the sick creep's gonna try next."

"I don't understand what they're trying to do?" Jake asked, puzzled. "This sort of thing will wind up shutting us down eventually. If it is one of my staff, why would they do that? They'd be out of a job?"

"I'm afraid the motive is unclear at this juncture," agreed Fraser, "but Detective Chen is doing some background research on each member of your staff, perhaps something will become apparent."

Jake nodded, but then the telephone on his desk rang. "Excuse me," he said as he picked up the receiver.

Ray and Fraser continued to talk in low voices while Jake spoke on the telephone. "We don't even have a suspect yet buddy," sighed Ray.

"No," agreed Fraser. "I have been talking with Darren this morning and he told me he hardly knew Linda Maguire, although I'm not entirely convinced he was telling the truth. I asked a few pertinent questions and some of his answers were slightly confusing, but that in itself doesn't make him a suspect."

"Unusual how?" asked Ray.

"I enquired as to whether he had keys to the main park gates or to this office and his answer was a little ambiguous, he didn't seem sure," Fraser explained, "but he did say that he had a large bunch of keys so he wasn't entirely sure which ones were on there."

"Chelsea seemed genuinely upset about that kid this mornin'," said Ray, "I can't imagine her, er, doin' somethin' like that."

"Agreed," replied Fraser, but then he was slightly distracted by Jake's voice becoming a little distressed. Jake slammed down the telephone receiver and sighed. "Is everything alright?" asked Fraser.

Jake shook his head. "That was Sarah," he said quietly. "The police called the apartment to speak to me. Now she's really mad at me."

"You didn't tell her yet?" asked Ray in surprise.

"No," replied Jake, "she's on her way over here right now. I tried to explain, but she sounded so angry."

"Take it from me," began Ray, "keepin' stuff from your wife is a really bad idea."

"I didn't realise you were married," Jake said.

"I'm not," replied Ray, adding quietly, "not any more."

Jake glanced at Fraser and quickly realised from the look on the Mountie's face that he should leave that subject alone, so he simply said. "Oh."

xXx

Later that afternoon, Fraser and Ray were back out in the park, patrolling the pools and trying to find out as much as they could by chatting to the other lifeguards. Fraser spotted Sarah walking towards him and he waved at her, but she didn't look very happy. "Hi," she said curtly, "can I have a word with you please?"

"Of course," Fraser led her to a quiet corner.

"I realise you're undercover," Sarah began, keeping her voice quiet, "but I found out today that my husband was arrested for murder and nobody bothered to tell me," she snapped at him.

"I'm sorry Sarah," Fraser began apologetically, "but Jake didn't want to worry you. I can assure you that Jake is no longer under suspicion, in fact we believe that the death was an accident, however we are here investigating certain other circumstances."

"Ben, has Jake told you what it's really like here?" asked Sarah.

Fraser frowned and rubbed his eyebrow with his thumbnail. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"The boss, Colin Dawson, he expects Jake to run this place without spending any money," Sarah began, "sometimes Jake lies awake all night worrying about how he can keep the place going. He was going to quit and look for another job, but then we found out I was pregnant and..." her voice cracked as she looked at her baby daughter who was asleep in the baby carrier strapped to her front. "I'm sorry," she sniffed, "my hormones are all over the place at the moment."

Fraser smiled and gently stroked the soft hair on the top of Bethany's head with his forefinger. "Try not to worry," he said to Sarah. "Whatever's going on, we will get to the bottom of it."

"Thank you," she smiled at him.

Just then they heard Jake calling out to them. Fraser spun round to see Jake walking towards them holding out his mobile phone. "Ben, it's Detective Turner," Jake spoke more quietly now, "he has some information for you." Fraser took the phone from the other man and listened as the detective told him what they'd found out.

"Thank you kindly Detective," said Fraser, clicking off the phone and handing it back to Jake. "It appears that Linda Maguire worked for Mr Dawson previously, but he fired her. She was married at the time so her surname was different. This is very interesting, I'll just go and speak to Ray." Jake nodded and Fraser headed off towards the children's pool, but before he got there, there was an almighty crashing noise, followed by a splash and then the sound of people screaming.

Fraser spun on his heels and was shocked to see that the steps leading up to the largest of the flumes had broken away from their support and were swaying at a precarious angle. A man had fallen from about half way up, landing straight in the water below and three other people had fallen from lower steps and were lying injured by the side of the pool, but one teenage girl who had been almost at the top had slipped over the side as the steps swung away and was now clinging on to the handrail, screaming. Fraser raced off back towards the steps and Ray and Chelsea weren't far behind, as Darren dived into the pool to help the man who had fallen in.

"Call 911," Ray yelled on his way past and Jake threw his phone to Sarah who frantically made the call.

"I'll get a ladder," said Jake, running off towards the store cupboard.

Fraser got to the scene just as Darren was pulling the man out of the water and Fraser was relieved to see that he appeared to be alright. Two of the other lifeguards were attending to the victims who had landed by the side of the pool, all of whom appeared to have only minor injuries. "Hold on, I'm coming to get you," Fraser yelled at the terrified teenage girl who was swinging around as the steps slowly creaked first one way and then the other.

"I'm going to fall!" screamed the girl, who was barely managing to maintain her hold of the handrail.

"No you're not," Fraser replied calmly, as he hurriedly began climbing the steps of the second flume that stood only a few feet away from the other one.

"Be careful buddy!" yelled Ray and Chelsea suddenly grabbed hold of Ray's arm and gripped it tightly as they watched the events unfolding

Fraser quickly climbed the steps until he was at the same height as the girl, but he just couldn't stretch far enough to reach her. "Listen to me, I need you to do exactly what I say," he said to the girl. "I need you to lean this way so that the steps swing over towards me."

"I can't!" wailed the girl.

"Yes you can," replied Fraser, encouragingly, "you can do it, just shift your bodyweight, that's good." He smiled at her as she managed to comply with his instructions and she slowly swung closer to the other flume where Fraser was. "Now reach out your right hand," he said as he stretched out his own hand as far as he could as the steps moved across the extra few inches. Finally, their fingers touched and Fraser was able to get enough of a grip of her hand to be able to pull the broken steps even closer. He reached over with his right hand too now. "Give me your other hand," he said.

"No, no, I'm going to fall!" The girl was shaking with fear now and she made the mistake of looking down. As soon as she realised how high up she was, she let out another scream and her left hand slipped off the handrail. In a split second, Fraser grabbed it and somehow managed to pull her up and over onto the steps that he was on and she was safe. Everyone watching the drama from below began clapping and cheering as Fraser carried the trembling girl down the steps to the waiting arms of her friends, just as Jake returned with a ladder and realised that he was too late to help.

Chelsea and Ray ran over to Fraser. "Wow, that was amazing!" Chelsea exclaimed and began pawing at Fraser's arm. Fraser's face went red with embarrassment.

"You OK?" asked Ray and Fraser nodded. Ray led his partner away from the unwanted attentions of Chelsea and spoke quietly. "This is gettin' too dangerous," he said, looking over his shoulder at the five victims, all of whom were lucky to be alive.

"I quite agree," Fraser replied and he beckoned to Jake to join them. "Jake, I really think we need to close the park now," he said, "people's lives are being put at risk."

Jake nodded and sighed. "I'll call Mr Dawson," he said. "He's not going to be very happy."

A while later, the victims of the accident had all been taken to hospital, the water park had been closed and Detectives Chen and Turner had arrived. Everyone had decided that Fraser and Ray should maintain their undercover identities, as they still may be able to catch whoever was sabotaging the rides. An inspection platform had been erected around the broken steps and Fraser and Turner were up there looking at the damage. Fraser raised his eyebrows and glanced at Turner. "This wasn't sabotage," he declared, running his finger over the twisted metal and plastic. "Look," he said, displaying his discoloured finger tip to the detective, "rust. This support has rusted away and the two bolts were so corroded that they snapped and then the whole section became disconnected."

"So this has nothing to do with what's been going on?" asked Turner.

"Apparently not," replied Fraser as they began climbing back down. Fraser crossed to Ray, Chen and Jake and explained their findings. Jake immediately looked horrified. "What's wrong?" asked Fraser.

"This is my fault," replied Jake in a shaky voice. "We had a safety inspection a while ago and they mentioned the rust. They said we should get all the metal components painted with this anti corrosion paint, but it was going to cost thousands of dollars. I mentioned it to Mr Dawson, but he refused to pay of course. He said I should just leave it."

"Hey don't blame yourself," said Ray, "it's Dawson's fault. Look, um, I've got an idea."

"What is it Ray?" asked Fraser.

"Let's tell the rest of the staff the cops discovered that the steps were sabotaged," explained Ray, "say that it's bein' treated as attempted murder. Might just scare whoever has been doin' all of this to own up so they can prove they weren't involved with the so called murder attempt?"

"As much I disagree with deception Ray, in this instance I believe that to be an excellent suggestion," replied Fraser.

"OK," agreed Chen, "gather all your staff together Mr Dantzig and I'll explain the seriousness of the situation and that you're all suspects."

A little later, Fraser and Ray were getting changed in the staff locker room together with the other lifeguards. "Hey, do ya really think one of us, er, is doin' all this?" asked Ray in an extra loud voice so that the others could hear.

"I have no idea," replied Fraser in a slightly stiff voice. He was very uncomfortable lying, but it was necessary. "I certainly wouldn't like to imagine what's going to happen to them. I believe that attempted murder carries a particularly heavy custodial sentence." Fraser was talking to Ray, but looking past him to gauge the reactions of Chelsea, Darren and the others. Ray raised his eyebrows in anticipation, but Fraser simply gave a tiny shrug.

After most of the others had left, Ray and Fraser decided to walk around the perimeter of the park, to see if they could find any signs of an intruder. The security was pretty good, there were high fences and walls and some fairly dense shrubbery. The main gates were also very secure. All this was necessary of course as the last thing anyone wanted was for kids to break in after hours and get into difficulties in the water. "It would be very difficult for anyone to gain entrance Ray," Fraser concluded.

"Yeah," agreed Ray, poking at some bushes with a large stick. "Nobody's gonna get through here." He walked along a bit further shaking his head, but then he stopped. "Fraser, look at this," he said, reaching deep into the hedge with the stick.

Fraser walked over to see what he was looking at. "Ah," he said as Ray, pulled back the leaves, "it looks like the original plant was damaged several years ago and the surrounding foliage has grown to fill the gap."

"Leaves a gap big enough to, er, to squeeze through though," said Ray. "If you're small enough," he added.

Fraser pushed his way into the gap. "Well, I can't get through," he announced, "so that rules out Darren as he and I are of a similar build. Oh, wait a minute." Fraser peered closely at a twig.

Ray couldn't really see what he was doing. "D'ya need the flashlight?" he asked his partner.

"No need Ray," replied Fraser, "my night vision is perfectly adequate." Finally, he stepped back out to join his partner. "Look Ray," he held up something between his thumb and forefinger.

"Er..." Ray squinted.

"You really should pay another visit to your optician," Fraser frowned.

"My eyes are fine," Ray snapped. "I just can't quite, um..."

"I found these two hairs snagged on a branch," explained Fraser, taking the other end of the two long blonde hairs and holding them out horizontally in front of Ray.

"Oh yeah, I see 'em now," said Ray, but then he screwed his face up in disgust as Fraser brought the two hairs up to his mouth and licked along the length of them. "Urghh Fraser!" he exclaimed.

Fraser rolled his tongue around in his mouth. "Coconut," he announced to a bemused Ray, "and mango," he licked along his lower lip and then drew it into his mouth, with a satisfied nod.

"Greatness," replied Ray, sarcastically, "so we're lookin' for Carmen Miranda?"

"Is she on the FBI most wanted list?" Fraser asked innocently. Ray shook his head and sighed. "I believe what I am detecting is the residue of shampoo Ray," Fraser explained.

"Hmm," Ray thought for a second, "Darren and the other guys don't strike me as tropical hair product kinda guys."

"Indeed," agreed Fraser, "however, I noticed that Chelsea is a fan of such fruit based personal hygiene products, also taking into account the colour and length of these hairs, I think we can conclude that they are hers."

Ray nodded. "So do we call Chen and Turner and suggest they, y'know, go bring her in?"

"This alone is not evidence of her involvement in any crime Ray, other than possibly breaking and entering," Fraser pointed out. "I would suggest that we wait until tomorrow and continue to discuss the fabricated attempted murder charge. If she knows anything, fear may prompt her to come forward."

xXx

That evening, Fraser, Ray and Diefenbaker were enjoying a Chinese take away meal at Ray's apartment. Dief had eaten far to many spring rolls for Fraser's liking, but he was allowing it to pass without comment as he was feeling a little guilty about leaving his wolf with Turnbull while he and Ray were undercover. Just then there was a knock at the door. Ray got up to open it and was surprised to see Sarah standing there with baby Bethany in her arms. "Hi, come in," said Ray, glancing at his partner.

"Sarah, what are you doing here?" asked Fraser, taking Bethany from her as she unbuttoned her coat.

"I'm sorry," replied Sarah, "I telephoned the Canadian Consulate earlier to speak to you Ben, but a Constable Turnbull gave me this address. I hope you don't mind. I couldn't sleep and Bethany was restless so I thought...oh, I don't know what I thought." She sighed.

Fraser gave Ray a worried glance. "Sit down," he said and he tried to hand the baby back to her, but Sarah pushed her away.

"You can hold her for a while," she said and Fraser half smiled. He was quite happy to hold the baby of course, but she'd begun to grizzle a little bit more now and he thought she'd probably be happier with her mother. "What's wrong?" he said gently. Sarah looked up at him with her lower lip quivering. "It's alright," he added with a smile of encouragement, but Sarah shook her head and covered her face with one hand, hoping that somehow they wouldn't be able to see her crying.

"Hey, c'mon," said Ray, really concerned about her now, "it's been a tough day, but it's all gonna be OK. Is, er, is there somethin' ya wanna talk about?"

Sarah moved her hand from her face and tried to smile. She took a deep breath. "Do you think someone's trying to kill Jake?" she asked.

Ray was quite taken aback. He couldn't quite work out where she'd got that idea from. "No Sarah, why would ya say that? Has Jake ever received any, y'know, threats or anythin' like that?"

Sarah looked at him as more tears rolled down her face. "No, not that I know of," she admitted, "but I'm scared, I'm so scared that something's going to happen to Jake and I'll be on my own with Bethany and I know I couldn't cope with that."

Ray glanced at his partner who was now walking around the room with the baby, trying to soothe her. Fraser could completely understand Sarah's fears, no matter how unfounded they were. He was all too aware of how it felt to be lonely and he wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. Ray, of course, knew exactly what it was like to be suddenly alone and he never wanted to go through that again. He caught his buddy's eye and they both instantly knew what the other was thinking. He smiled supportively at Sarah. "Look, we got no reason to think anyone's tryin' to kill anyone, let alone Jake," Ray reassured her. "Someone's tryin' to shut down Super Splash, that's for sure, but ya got nothin' to worry about." Sarah nodded, not entirely convinced.

"Let Ray drive you both home," said Fraser. "I promise you that we will solve this. If I might suggest though, as soon as this is over, perhaps Jake could resume his search for alternative employment? I am not entirely convinced that Mr Dawson is the most desirable of employers."

Sarah nodded sadly. "I think he was so nervous when I found out I was pregnant with Bethany," she said, "and he felt like he had to stay there for us, even though he's so unhappy. He hates that he can't do a good job. He hates that the place is falling apart, it used to be a lovely water park."

"He has excellent skills," Fraser said, "he should have no trouble finding new employment."

"I hope so," nodded Sarah, "he was an excellent lifeguard, he misses doing that I know. Now all he seems to do is paperwork."

Fraser looked down at the tiny baby in his arms. "She's asleep now," he said with a smile and passed her back to Sarah, who this time took her from him happily.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at Fraser, "I think she knows who you are," she added and Fraser was struck by that thought.

Just then Ray's phone rang and he scrabbled to answer it before the noise woke Bethany. It was Detective Chen. Ray listened carefully as the Detective told him what they'd found out that evening. He clicked off his phone and looked at Fraser. "Darren and Linda Maguire were dating in secret. CCTV from her apartment building shows him regularly staying the night and her neighbours have confirmed it."

"What?" Sarah exclaimed, "but she was old enough to be his mother."

Ray shrugged. "He's been doin' a very good job of hidin' how, er, how upset he is that she's dead," he pointed out, a little sarcastically.

"Indeed," agreed Fraser, "one might even say he isn't very upset at all."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

The next morning, Ray and Fraser were at the water park early. They were both pleased to see that there had been no further incidents overnight. Even though the park was closed to the public, Jake had thought of enough excuses to get all the staff to come in as normal. He'd invented tasks that needed doing and everyone had agreed to do it for the chance of an extra days pay, although none of them had arrived yet. Jake was in his office writing a report to send to the owner of Super Splash, Colin Dawson.

Fraser stood by his locker and pulled his t-shirt off over his head. He folded it neatly into four and placed it in his locker. Then a voice behind him made him jump. "Oh I love a neat and tidy man." It was Chelsea and she grabbed hold of his forearm.

"Er, hello," said Fraser, glancing at Ray as his cheeks began to flush red. Ray turned away as he tried to stop laughing.

"So Jake's got you two in here doing all this dumb maintenance work too then," Chelsea said, slightly despondently. "I'm a lifeguard, not a janitor. Why has he suddenly got so keen on doing the place up?"

"I imagine he is taking advantage of the park being closed to enhance it's appearance, ready for the reopening," replied Fraser, relaxing slightly as she released her grip on his arm.

"How long do you think we're going to be closed for?" Chelsea asked with some concern. "I really don't want to be out of a job."

"Until the Police catch the person responsible for sabotaging the rides, there is the possibility that they might strike again," Fraser pointed out, "and next time they made succeed in their attempt to kill somebody."

"Do you think that's what he's trying to do?" Chelsea asked, her voice shaking a little now, "I mean, he started that fire in the changing rooms, but that was in the middle of the night when nobody was here and the sprinklers put it out straight away anyway, but then sticking that razor blade in the banana slide...that was so awful, that poor kid, but the steps, well, someone could have died today, more than one person maybe. If you hadn't been here, I don't know what might have happened." Chelsea's face was one of real fear now. She looked up at him and he could see she was fighting back tears. "I've never had to deal with that," she half whispered. "I mean, I know one day, I may pull someone from the water and...and there won't be anything I can do for them, that's part of my job I guess, but I always thought that when that day comes it'll be because of an accident, not a...not a murder." She looked sadly at her feet.

Fraser looked at her sympathetically. "Dealing with death is never easy, no matter what the circumstances," he said solemnly.

She looked up at him. "You've...I mean, I guess you've been a lifeguard longer than me, you must have..." Fraser simply nodded. He felt uncomfortable again now as this conversation was leading him towards having to lie directly to her and he didn't want to do that. Chelsea managed to smile at him and then she raised herself up onto her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Fraser was taken aback and he stood frozen to the spot as she walked back to her locker.

Ray turned back and shook his head. Of course he wasn't surprised that a pretty young woman was kissing his shirtless buddy. "She's not our perp," Ray mumbled quietly to Fraser.

"I quite agree," replied Fraser almost under his breath. He was about to elaborate on his thoughts to Ray, but then they both spotted Chelsea walking back towards them.

"Ben," began Chelsea in a quiet voice, "can I speak to you please in private?" Ray bit hard on his lower lip and turned his head away. "I really need some advice."

"Oh," replied Fraser, aware that this wasn't simply a blatant attempt to flirt with him. She sounded genuinely concerned. "Of course," he said and Ray caught the seriousness in his partner's voice. He turned to see Fraser leading Chelsea over towards the bench. Fraser indicated to her to sit down and he sat next to her. "What's wrong?" he asked her gently.

"Um," she hesitated, "um, I saw you talking to those cops yesterday, do they really think it was one of us who's been doing all these things?"

"It is their current working theory," explained Fraser.

"What...um, what about Linda Maguire?" continued Chelsea, "do they think the same person killed her?"

"I believe they are classifying Ms Maguire's death as an accident at this juncture," replied Fraser, spotting Ray observing from a discrete distance. "Do you have any information?" Fraser probed. "If you know something, you should speak to the Police."

Chelsea looked uncomfortable now. "Linda Maguire," she said quietly, "I, um, I..." her voice trailed off.

"Chelsea," prompted Fraser, "if you wish, we can go to the Police together. If you know something that may be significant to this investigation then you have a duty to report it."

"It was an accident," she said, tears forming in her eyes, "I didn't know...I didn't realise," and she burst into tears.

Fraser was a little stunned and put a comforting hand on her arm. He beckoned Ray to come over. "I think we should telephone Detective Chen," he said, "Chelsea has some information."

"I didn't have anything to do with the other stuff," Chelsea sobbed, "I would never try to hurt or kill anyone."

A short while later, Chelsea, Fraser, Ray and Jake were in Jake's office with Detectives Chen and Turner. Chelsea was shocked when they explained to her that they were undercover Police officers, but they thought they should tell her the truth now. She explained to them that she'd discovered that Darren had been sleeping with Linda and to start with she'd just been desperate to find out all the gossip, so she'd started snooping around. When Linda was fired, she noticed Darren became really distant for a few days. "He started acting really weird," she tried to explain, "he was hiding things in his locker, I know he was." That particular evening she'd gone to Linda's apartment and waited outside to see if Darren would show up. When he didn't, Chelsea was just about to leave, when Linda appeared, so she followed her because she thought perhaps Linda had arranged to meet Darren somewhere.

"And she ended up returning here," finished Detective Chen.

"Yes," nodded Chelsea. "I followed her, I thought maybe I could catch them together. I know it's not nice to snoop on someone, but I thought it was so strange that they were together and I was upset that Darren never told me. I thought we were friends, y'know."

Fraser nodded. "So what happened?" he asked.

Chelsea took a deep breath. "She came in here first," explained the young lifeguard, "I started to get a bit scared then, because she shouldn't have had keys any more and I thought she was trying to get revenge for being fired, like burn the place down or something."

"I guess she was looking for something she could use to close us down," suggested Jake and Detective Turner nodded in agreement.

"She was in here for about ten minutes," Chelsea continued, "then she came out and headed out into the park. I followed her again because I was really curious now, but I stayed out of sight. She didn't put the main lights on though."

"Did ya see what she was doin' in there?" asked Ray, who was getting slightly impatient. Chelsea didn't seem to have any information that they didn't already know.

Chelsea shook her head. "Not really, she was looking at all the flumes and the benches. I don't think she even touched anything. Anyway, I realised that Darren wasn't going to show up, so I decided to go home. It was gone midnight and I was really tired." Chelsea began to cry again.

"It's alright," encouraged Fraser, "just tell us exactly what happened next."

"I turned round and walked into one of the lockers by accident," Chelsea explained, "it made a noise and I heard Linda yell out. Then there was this crash and a splash and then silence and I didn't know what to do," her voice cracked. "I panicked," she continued, "I knew I shouldn't have even been there and I thought the Police would think that I had something to do with everything that's been going on."

"So ya ran off and got out through the bushes over by the flumes," said Ray.

"Yes, but how did you know?" replied a puzzled Chelsea. "I didn't look back, I didn't want to know what had happened..."

Fraser sighed. "You know what you did was wrong," he said, softly. Chelsea nodded and wiped the tears from her face. They could all see that she was full of remorse.

"I'll never know if I could have saved her," Chelsea half whispered.

"We'll discuss this later young lady," said Chen, rather abruptly, "first, I think we need to have a word with Darren."

"Do you think he was involved with this?" asked Chelsea, "oh god, do you think he planted that razor blade? How could he do that?"

"He is certainly the most obvious suspect at this juncture," replied Fraser.

"We should search his, er, his locker," suggested Ray.

"Indeed," agreed Fraser.

They walked back to the locker room and Ray quickly managed to force the door on Darren's locker. Detective Chen began rummaging through the contents, pulling out spare trunks, t-shirts, half eaten energy bars and sports magazines. Then at the back, Chen found a white paper bag with the top folded town tightly. She brought it out and tipped the contents onto the bench. Fraser and Ray were not that surprised to find a lighter and an opened packet of razor blades. "Oh my god!" exclaimed Chelsea, "he did it all. He set fire to the changing rooms and he...he hurt that little girl, I don't believe it! I thought he was OK, he was my friend, I've know him for nearly three years." Chelsea slumped down onto the bench and broke down again.

"Unfortunately, even if you've known someone your whole life, sometimes you discover that you don't really know them at all," said Fraser wistfully and Ray knew that he was referring to Gerrard, the man who killed his father. Fraser, catching Ray's eye and realising that his friend had understood, nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'll go to his place," said Detective Turner, to his partner, "you stay here, he's meant to be showing up for work today."

"Sure," agreed Detective Chen. "He doesn't know we suspect him yet, so I guess he's got no reason not to come in." Fraser and Ray nodded in agreement and Detective Turner left, arranging by telephone to meet some uniformed officers from his station at Darren's home address.

Ray, Fraser and Chen searched through the other items in Darren's locker. Jake made Chelsea some tea at Fraser's suggestion. Jake tried to reassure her that Linda Maguire had brought her fate upon herself and if she hadn't been trying to destroy the business then she wouldn't have even been there that night. Chelsea took some comfort from her boss's words, but she still felt terribly guilty.

Suddenly, Darren walked into the locker room carrying his heavy sports bag. He stopped when he saw his locker was open and realised what had happened. "Freeze," yelled Chen, "you're under arrest," but Darren had already fled the room, throwing his bag over his shoulder in an attempt to slow them down. Fraser immediately leapt over the bench and chased after him with Ray and Chen close behind, narrowly avoiding the bag. Jake and Chelsea ran out too, to see what was going to happen.

They chased after Darren, through the changing rooms and out into the park. "Darren, there's nowhere for you to go," Fraser shouted after him, but Darren kept on running. He ran past the two larger flumes right round to the leisure pool with the small flumes, but he stumbled and it slowed him down long enough for Fraser to catch up with him. Fraser reached out and grabbed his arm but Darren wasn't going to make it that easy for him and launched himself into the pool, pulling Fraser in with him with a splash.

"Fraser!" Ray shouted as he saw them fall in, but there was nothing he could do to help his buddy, he didn't have his gun and he couldn't jump into the water as it was too deep. Fortunately, after a brief struggle in the water, Fraser was able to overpower the younger man and swam over to the side of the pool with Darren's hands held firmly behind his back. Ray crouched down and pulled him out of the water and then Detective Chen dragged him to his feet.

"I didn't do anything to the steps," Darren said, desperately, "I had nothing to do with that. Everything was Linda's idea, she said she wanted to shut this place down so she could buy the business at a bargain price. She said I could be the manager."

Ray laughed. "She was never gonna buy this place," he sneered, "she just wanted to see the place go bust."

Darren looked mortified. "But she said she loved me," he said, hanging his head as he began to realise that he'd been used.

Chelsea laughed now. "And did you love her?" she asked, amazed at how he could have been so stupid.

"Of course not," he replied, "but I wanted to run this place. I had all these plans. I know I can do a better job than you," he hissed at Jake.

"So when Linda died, you thought you'd continue with the plan," said Fraser as he stood there with water dripping off his body.

"She never hurt anybody though did she," Chelsea screamed at him. "How could you do that to that little girl?" Chelsea was so upset that she suddenly lunged at him, hitting out with her fists. Ray tried to hold her back, but the commotion gave Darren the opportunity to reach out and take Detective Chen's gun from it's holster and he pointed back at her. "No!" yelled Chelsea.

"You're coming with me," Darren said to his younger colleague, "or I shoot this cop."

"Darren, you realise you can't get away with this," Fraser said in an even tone, "there's nowhere to run. Put the weapon down, I'm sure you don't wish to add shooting an officer of the law to your list of crimes."

"I said come with me," Darren yelled at Chelsea, completely ignoring Fraser. Chelsea looked back at Ray, completely terrified now, but Ray couldn't see an immediate way out of this so he nodded at Chelsea to indicate that she should comply. Chelsea walked slowly towards Darren and he grabbed hold of her arm and then he began walking back towards the two large flumes. "We're gonna walk out of here," he said menacingly "and if you try to stop me, then I will shoot her."

"Your hand is shaking," Fraser said, calmly, "I assume you've never used a gun before." Darren didn't answer, but he continued to walk backwards with Chelsea. Fraser turned his head very slightly towards Detective Chen and spoke very quietly to her. "I assume you have a back up gun?"

"Of course," she replied.

"He's scared," Fraser continued, almost under his breath, "and a frightened man with a gun is very dangerous."

"What are you suggesting?" whispered Chen, as she bent forward to reach for her boot gun.

"No!" hissed Fraser, "Don't make any sudden..." but it was too late and a shot rang out. Fraser grabbed Detective Chen around the waist and pulled her out of the path of the bullet. Unfortunately as she did so, her boot gun slid out of her hand and splashed into the deep water. Chen quickly scrabbled after it, but she lost her footing, twisted her knee and fell into the water. She was a reasonable swimmer, but she was wearing a trouser suit and a heavy wool full length overcoat and as soon as they got wet, the weight pulled her back under the water and the coat became tangled around her legs. Jake quickly removed his own suit jacket, pulled his neck tie off over his head and dived in after her.

Satisfied that Detective Chen was in good hands, Fraser and Ray continued to pursue Darren and a screaming Chelsea. They ran right through the park until they were back at the large flumes. Ray signalled to Fraser that they he would go around the other way and try to cut them off and Fraser nodded in agreement. Darren hesitated for a minute. "Please release her, she's done nothing to you," Fraser called out to him, "think about this for a moment, she's your friend, you don't really want any harm to come to her. Put down the weapon and surrender."

Darren shook his head. "I was going to be somebody," he said, the anger in his voice clear, "I could have made a real go of this place, I was going to make it into the best water park in Illinois." He glanced over his shoulder and noticed that he was only feet away from the large water flumes. The one with the broken steps had a Police cordon around it, but he looked back at Fraser and then began dragging a terrified Chelsea up the steps of the other flume. "Do you honestly think I want to spend the rest of my life running around dressed like this?" he yelled. "After a while, having girls gawking at you all day gets really tiring," he added, "I deserve some respect. Linda respected me."

Darren's comments about being gawked at struck a chord with Fraser, but he was more concerned about what the man was planning to do next. Fraser could tell he was getting desperate now and he was the only one who was armed. Fraser of course was quite used to being unarmed, but he usually drew some comfort in the fact that Ray was there, backing him up with some firepower. He had to play this one very carefully. "Darren," he began, slowly climbing up the steps, "let Chelsea go and we can talk about this." Darren shook his head defiantly and continued to pull her higher up towards the entrance of the chute. "You talk about respect, but how can people respect you if you shield behind a hostage." Fraser could see Chelsea was starting to become hysterical and that was really not going to help the situation as Darren was angry and very jumpy. "Please," Fraser urged.

Chelsea was shaking with fear. "Please Darren," she begged him.

"But you were helping them," Darren said, in disgust, "I saw you, you told them to search my locker. How long have you been spying on me?"

"It wasn't like that," Chelsea tried to explain through her sobs, "I had no idea what you were doing, I swear."

"Shut up!" he yelled at her. Chelsea was shocked at the anger in his voice being directed towards her and she was so upset that she lashed out at him, adrenaline taking over and she tried to wrestle the gun out of his hand. Fraser raced up the steps to help her, but before he got there, another shot rang out. For one horrifying moment, Fraser and Darren both thought he'd shot Chelsea at point blank range and Darren released his grip on the gun, watching as it fell with a splash into the water below, but the bullet had in fact missed her by inches. She was stunned, but really fuming now and she lunged forward to punch him in the face, just as Fraser tried to reach out and pull her to safety. Darren ducked out of the way, but somehow Chelsea slipped and fell, knocking her head hard on the edge of the chute before disappearing head first down into the darkness.

Fraser saw her body go limp as she slipped out of his reach and his blood ran cold. He leaned over the side of the steps and, almost forgetting about Darren for a moment, he shouted at the top of his voice to Ray who had taken up a position by the deep swirling plunge pool at the base of the flume. "Chelsea's coming down, she's unconscious!"

Ray waved to show he'd understood and then a sense of dread washed over him. He looked over the edge into the water and started to breathe rapidly as the sweat began to bead on his forehead. He knew that if Chelsea was unconscious then she'd sink straight to the bottom of the pool as soon as she emerged from the slide. With Jake and Chen out of action and Fraser preoccupied with Darren, that left Ray as the young woman's only hope of survival. Before he had chance to think about it any more, Chelsea appeared and just as Ray had predicted, she disappeared down into the water.

Ray didn't hesitate, he jumped in after her. He knew he could swim, he'd done it before and that was in open water, but he'd had Fraser right there with him then. His buddy had been there with words of encouragement and had even given Ray some of the air from his own lungs to keep him alive so he knew that Fraser wasn't about to let anything happen to him then, but now he was alone and he was Chelsea's only chance. _Relax Kowalski_, he thought to himself, _bloom, close, kick 'em in the head_. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with precious air and dived down under the water. He saw the tiny woman's limp body at the bottom of the pool and he somehow summoned the strength to swim right down to her, _bloom, close, kick 'em in the head_. His ears felt as if they were going to explode with the water pressure and his chest suddenly started to feel tight as he fought the overwhelming urge to take a breath. He grabbed Chelsea under the arms and pushed off the bottom of the pool with his feet, sending them both shooting back up towards the surface, _bloom, close, kick 'em in the head._

As they broke through the surface of the water, Ray thought he was going to pass out as he gasped and gulped down the fresh air, but he was suddenly aware that Chelsea wasn't doing the same. His legs felt like they'd turned to jelly, but he had to get her out of the water.

Ray turned Chelsea over onto her back and keeping her head above the water with one arm, he swam her to the side of the pool, adopting more of a splash, splash, kick 'em in the head style with one arm. They got to the side and Ray lifted her up out of the water, struggling to keep himself afloat as he did so, then he clambered out too. He rolled Chelsea onto her back and checked for a pulse with two fingers on her neck. He allowed himself a tiny sigh of relief as he felt her faint heartbeat under his fingers, but he knew she wasn't breathing and now her lips were starting to turn blue. Ray knew what he had to do. He tilted her head back, pinched her nose and began with five big breaths into her mouth. He barely had enough air himself, but he gave her everything he had. He waited for a second to see if she responded, but she didn't, so he tried a further two breaths. "C'mon," he urged, but still nothing. He checked her pulse again and then tried another two breaths. This time Chelsea coughed and spluttered. Ray could feel his own heart pounding in his chest as he rolled her onto her side. "That's it," he said to her, "you're gonna be OK." The young lifeguard coughed up some more water and Ray rubbed her back supportively.

Just then, Jake appeared, carrying Detective Chen in his arms. She was shivering quite badly in her soaking wet clothes. Jake carefully lowered her onto the ground and then he ran over to Chelsea and Ray. He quickly checked Chelsea who was still coughing, but breathing more comfortably now then he glanced at Ray. "Good work," he said and Ray nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll get some blankets," said Jake getting to his feet, adding, "what happened to Fraser and Darren?"

Ray of course was acutely aware that he hadn't seen or heard from his partner since he'd dived into the water to save Chelsea and he was more than a little worried. "Ray?" Chelsea managed to say between coughing up water.

"Sshhh, it's OK, don't try to talk," Ray said soothingly.

"You...did you...you saved me?" Chelsea coughed again. Ray shrugged, a little embarrassed as Jake returned with the blankets. He draped one around Detective Chen, gave one to Ray and then covered Chelsea with another.

Fraser, meanwhile, had been trying to talk Darren into giving himself up. Darren had calmed down a little now and Fraser was just beginning to think that he'd persuaded him to come back down the steps with him and surrender to the Police. Darren was still hesitating though. "Please Darren," Fraser pleaded, "Chelsea may need help, Ray is not a very strong swimmer."

Darren nodded, but then the reality of what Fraser had just said hit him. "But McQueen's a lifeguard?" he said, puzzled.

"Ah," Fraser ran his thumb over his eyebrow, realising that he'd quite possibly said the wrong thing. "I'm afraid you have been deliberately hoodwinked."

"Hoodwinked?" Darren was still puzzled.

"Yes," replied Fraser, "Ray and I are, in fact, Police officers and we have been working here undercover."

Darren took a second to absorb this new information, but when it sunk in he suddenly, fuelled with new anger, jumped onto the steps of the other flume that were still broken of course and swinging around dangerously. Fraser couldn't follow him immediately as he knew that their combined weight would most likely bring the broken section completely away and send it crashing to the ground with them still on it. Darren quickly jumped up, grasping onto the edge of the chute with both hands and pulled himself up. Then with one final glance at Fraser, he climbed into the flume and set off feet first. As soon as Darren had left the damaged steps, Fraser had jumped across too and he was only a few seconds behind him getting into the flume. Pushing against the sides with his hands, Fraser launched himself head first down the flume after Darren.

As he went hurtling down, Fraser realised that his best chance of apprehending the man was to catch him before he reached the end. Doing some quick calculations based on the differences in their bodyweights and the head start that Darren had on him, Fraser established that he needed to increase his velocity by between five and seven percent to catch him. He closed his eyes and thought back to the first time he'd ridden this flume and replayed each twist, turn and drop in his mind. He remembered that there was a particularly steep drop coming up and thought if he could give himself an extra push with his hands at just the right moment, then that should give him the additional speed he needed. All these thoughts ran through his head in a fraction of a second and the drop he was thinking about came up so fast that he almost missed it, but he reached out his hands and pushed against the sides of the chute. Almost immediately, he rounded another turn and there was Darren. Fraser grabbed him with one arm around the man's neck just as they reached the end of the flume and they splashed out together into the water.

Ray stood up, throwing the blanket from around his shoulders and ran to the side of the pool. "Fraser!" he yelled and now filled with confidence, he dived into the pool and swam over to where his partner and Darren were fighting in the water. Darren realised that he had no chance against the two of them and mentally and physically exhausted now, he stopped struggling. "You're under arrest," Ray announced, treading water with confidence, "but I left my cuffs in my other swim trunks."


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

"I must say Ray, it was very kind of Mr Dawson to allow us all to visit this delightful water park free of charge," Fraser looked around him at the huge water flumes and smiled, before pulling his t-shirt off over his head and folding it neatly.

"It's much better than Super Splash," Ray replied, "but I guess once all the, er, the renovations are done at that place, it'll be pretty good too, huh?"

"Indeed," agreed Fraser, "Mr Dawson was very grateful for everything we did last week, it appears he hadn't fully comprehended the seriousness of the situation, but now he has agreed to invest the extra funds in Super Splash that park will return to being the asset to Chicago that it was a few years ago." Ray nodded in agreement and then removed his own t-shirt, throwing it in a dishevelled heap on the floor.

"Hi Frase!" Francesca came over to them and stood with one hand on her hip. She was wearing a rather skimpy pink bikini and Fraser didn't quite know where to look.

"Ah, Francesca, I'm so glad you could join us," Fraser cleared his throat as soon as he'd finished speaking.

"Oh I wouldn't have missed this for the world," smiled Francesca, looking Fraser up and down as he stood there in his swimming trunks. He looked so perfect and she had to resist the urge to reach out and touch him. "I'm going for a swim, will you join me?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"Ah, Ray and I were going to ride the green flume first," explained Fraser, thankful for the excuse.

"The green one?" replied Francesca, surprised, "I don't think I could ride that one, it looks kinda scary."

"It's nothin'," laughed Ray, "it's gonna be fun, right buddy?" Fraser nodded and smiled at his partner's new found confidence in the water. Francesca watched them as they walked off, admiring the sight of Fraser's perfectly toned body as he moved.

"Eyes off," Francesca jumped as the voice of Inspector Meg Thatcher hissed loudly in her ear.

"Oh, hi Inspector," she said, "I was just, um, I was..."

"I know what you were doing," snapped Meg.

Francesca turned to look at her. "Can you blame me?" she said, incredulously.

Meg, of course, couldn't take her eyes off Fraser either. "No," she replied curtly.

As they walked through the water park towards the huge flumes, all four of which were much larger than the two at Super Splash, Fraser was giving Ray a pep talk. "Remember, when you emerge from the chute, your momentum will take you deep under the water and all you need to do..."

"Fraser, I'll be OK!" Ray interrupted him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Fraser asked him cautiously.

"Yeah buddy," replied Ray with a grin. "C'mon, don't ya think I can do it?"

Fraser smiled. "Of course I do," he said.

"I never thought I'd, y'know, enjoy this so much," shrugged Ray. "Kinda feel I've been missin' out on somethin' now." Fraser laughed.

Just then, they heard Jake calling out to them and they walked over to where he was sitting with Sarah and baby Bethany. "Hey," he said, "this is an amazing place isn't it." Fraser and Ray nodded and Fraser reached out to take Bethany from Sarah, pulling the puffin face as he lifted her into the air.

"Look, she's smilin' at ya," grinned Ray.

"It's just gas Ray," replied Fraser, "she's far too young to be smiling properly yet."

"Tell them about the your new job Jake," Sarah urged and Fraser raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Jake took a deep breath and grinned. "Head lifeguard," he said, "at this place. I'll still be responsible for the staff and actually I do really enjoy that, but it means I can get back to watching the water now and again. I've missed doing that so much. I think Mr Dawson was a bit disappointed when I said I didn't want to run Super Splash when it reopens, but I talked to him and then he offered me this. He's OK, once you get to know him."

Fraser took his hand and shook it warmly. "Congratulations," he said.

"Yeah," agreed Ray. "Now come on Fraser, I want to go down this chute."

xXx

Detective Jack Huey looked at his partner in despair as they headed for the whirlpool. "What the hell are you wearing?" he asked.

"Um, swim trunks," replied Dewey, like he'd just been asked the most stupid question in the world.

Huey laughed. "No no no," he said shaking his head. "These are swim trunks," he continued, indicating the bottle green pair he was wearing himself, "but those are underwear."

Dewey's face fell. "Oh," he said quietly, "do you think they're a bit tight?"

xXx

"You alright?" Fraser looked concerned as he helped Ray out of the swirling water.

"Yeah! Wow!" Ray was almost beside himself with excitement. "I'm gonna do it again!"

Fraser couldn't help laughing. He was so proud of the way his partner had overcome his fear of the water in such a short space of time, but before Ray could have his second go on the flume, they heard a shout. "There he is!" They turned to see Chelsea running towards them with two of her friends. Ray braced himself for another round of beautiful girls admiring Fraser in his swim trunks, but he was completely shocked when they ran straight past his partner and Chelsea grabbed hold of his forearm. "This is Ray," Chelsea beamed, "he's the one who saved my life."

"Hi Ray," giggled the other two girls. "Chelsea told us all about you, you were so brave," one of them said, pawing at his other arm. Ray blushed and looked to Fraser for help, but Fraser was enjoying the moment far too much to interrupt.

"Oh Ray, when you were giving me the kiss of life," Chelsea went on, smiling up adoringly into his eyes, "I could feel your lips against mine and I just knew I had to live." She sighed.

"Er, but you were unconscious?" said Ray, trying to back away from them. Fraser started to think that maybe he should intervene now as Ray was looking decidedly uncomfortable, but before he could think of a reasonable excuse, Diefenbaker came bounding up to them.

"Dief!" exclaimed Fraser, "what in heaven's name are you doing here?" Dief replied with a bark. "But I thought you hated the water?" Fraser continued. "Ever since that incident in Prince Rupert Sound..." Dief interrupted him with another bark. "No it was not my fault," replied Fraser rather indignantly. Dief whined and Fraser shook his head in disgust. "Don't embarrass yourself," he sighed.

"Oh he's adorable!" exclaimed one of Chelsea's friends.

"So cute!" agreed the other young woman and the three of them turned their attentions to the wolf, giving a thankful Ray the chance to slip away, making a mental note as he did so to buy Dief an extra doughnut at the next available opportunity.

They started to make their way back round to the steps of the giant flume when they heard screaming and turned to see Francesca in the water, shouting and waving her arms about. "Help! Frase!" Fraser spun on his heels, ran straight to the side of the pool and dived in. He quickly reached Francesca and supported her under her arms. "Cramp," she managed to splutter.

"It's alright, I've got you," said Fraser as he swam with her to the side of the pool. Ray helped her out and sat her on the floor, throwing a towel around her shoulders as Fraser climbed out after her. "Which leg?" he said.

"Um," Francesca hesitated, before replying, "this one."

Ray rolled his eyes. Oh buddy, he sighed to himself, how could a man who's always so acutely aware of everything going on around him be so oblivious when it comes to the attentions of the opposite sex? Unless he wasn't as oblivious as he made out...and a tiny grin formed at the corners of Ray's lips as things slowly began to click into place.

Fraser knelt at Francesca's feet, picked up her left leg and braced her foot against his chest. Then he began to massage her calf muscle. "How does that feel?" he asked.

"Oh, mmm, oh yes, good Frase," replied Francesca, as Fraser's strong hands manipulated her muscles, "that feels good, mmm, oooh, oh yes, yes!"

Fraser glanced up at Ray, who was looking decidedly less concerned than he had been a few minutes ago. He then looked down at Francesca's foot on his chest. She had started to caress his smooth bare skin with her toes. He cleared his throat twice before speaking. "I must say Francesca," he began, "your muscle certainly does not appear to have suffered a particularly severe spasm in this instance. In fact, I'm having difficulty detecting any sign of cramp at all?"

Francesca immediately removed her foot from his chest and sat upright. "That's because you did such a great job Frase," she said quickly. She removed the towel from her shoulders and gingerly got to her feet just as Fraser was also standing up. "Here," she said, wiping his face with the corner of her towel, "look at you, you're all wet." She continued to dry the water from his body, starting with his shoulders and then down his arms before moving onto his chest. Fraser was frozen to the spot with a combination of embarrassment and fear and his eyes were wide and staring straight ahead. Francesca meanwhile was starting to have difficulty breathing, but she certainly wasn't in need of resuscitation. "Oh...there, now...let me just..." but before she could get any further down his body, Inspector Meg Thatcher appeared and snatched the towel out of her hand.

"Do you mind?" she snapped at Francesca, before glancing at Fraser with a glint in her eye. "We prefer to dry our own personnel."

Fraser just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him as now Inspector Thatcher was on her knees in front of him drying his legs with the towel, but fortunately, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lieutenant Welsh appear and wave to the Mountie. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness," he mumbled. "If you'll all excuse me, I need to speak to the Lieutenant."

Ray had to walk away laughing as the two women glared at each other while Fraser ran over to Welsh. Ray went to find Dief who had been left alone after Chelsea and her friends went for a swim. He picked up a towel and began to dry himself, glancing back over his shoulder as he did so to see Fraser and Welsh deep in conversation. Welsh clearly wasn't dressed to go in the water, noticed Ray. "Hey Dief," Ray began, slightly puzzled, "they were doin' that down at the station yesterday too," he said to the wolf, "what d'ya think, er, all the secrecy's about anyway?" Dief yapped. Ray looked at him and shrugged. "You're a better liar than Fraser, I'll give ya that much." He laughed a little, but it still bothered him that his best friend and his Lieutenant were obviously keeping something from him.

He didn't have to worry for long though as Fraser waved and beckoned him over to join them. "Detective," Welsh acknowledged him, holding an official looking piece of paper in his hand. "I guess you've been wondering what Constable Fraser and I have been discussing."

"Er, yeah," replied Ray, hesitantly. Fraser half smiled. He knew full well that his partner would have noticed that something had been going on.

"Well," continued Welsh, "this has been quite difficult, seeing as you are undercover. Normally there'd be a big presentation, but as everyone thinks you're Vecchio and obviously I wanted this to go on your record and not his, then I thought you wouldn't mind this slightly unorthodox approach."

Ray didn't have a clue what he was talking about. "Sir?" he said questioningly. Welsh handed him the letter and Ray glanced at a smiling Fraser with a puzzled look as he opened it. He scanned down the words on the page, but they didn't really sink in. "What...what's this?" he asked.

"It's your fourth citation Ray," explained Fraser, beaming with pride.

Ray was shocked. "Why? What for?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"For bravery Ray," replied Fraser. "You single handedly saved the life of a young woman under extremely difficult and dangerous circumstances."

"Congratulations Detective," Lieutenant Welsh stood to attention and saluted.

Ray still couldn't quite believe it. "Um, er, thanks," he said and returned the salute.

"If you gentlemen will excuse me," Welsh continued, "I need to be going. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye Lieutenant," said Fraser with a wave and Welsh headed out of the door.

Ray turned to Fraser, completely taken aback. "I was only...er, I mean, it was nothin'...I don't deserve this."

"Of course you do Ray," insisted Fraser.

"But it was stupid," continued Ray, "I should never have gone in after her, I was way outta my depth."

"That just makes it all the more brave Ray," commented Fraser.

Ray looked at his buddy and narrowed his eyes "You knew all about this?" he asked.

"It was my recommendation," Fraser explained. Then his face became suddenly serious. "I hope you're not upset with me? I hope I did the right thing?"

Ray's face finally broke into a huge grin. "Course I'm not mad at ya," he said, giving Fraser a friendly slap on the back. Then he looked down at himself. "Er, I never thought I'd be gettin' a citation dressed in swim trunks." He laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation and looked back at Fraser. "Guess I should be used to everythin' in my life bein', er, wildly bizarre by now."

Fraser shrugged. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about Ray," he said innocently.

Ray laughed and started to jog backwards. "C'mon buddy!" he called out, handing his citation letter to Francesca for safekeeping as Fraser began to follow him. "I'm goin' down that green one again, you comin'?"

"Personally Ray, I thought that the red one provided a much higher thrill level," replied Fraser, seriously, chasing after his partner.

"Freak!" Ray shouted as he started climbing the steps to the green flume two at a time.

"Thank you kindly Ray," replied Fraser, running over to the steps of the red flume.

Ray laughed at his buddy. "OK, race ya!"

THE END


End file.
